For the past 20 years, Bruce Campbell has been a symbol of good, cheesy old school horror goodness, and with the rise of remakes and “re-imaginings” of everything horror from the past 50 years, it was about time The Evil Dead got it’s true sequel storyline in one shape or form. While the 2013 remake of the original Evil Dead was good in it’s own right, this Starz TV series is a direct continuation of the adventures of the main protagonist Ash Williams decades later.

Watching the original movies can help you connect to Ash, but it’s not entirely necessary. Plenty of the scenes in this first episode illustrate the kind of Dork/Badass he truly is, and how he graciously strides onward with an awkward yet confident grin on his face. Ash still lives a simple life working at a discount store, even after all of the crazy nonsense he’s been through. In fact, his basic bodily priorities and air-headedness while handling the infamous Necronomicon is the very reason this new wave of evil has come to get him. Now with the help of two co-workers Pablo and Kelly, Ash is on the mission to once again stop the Deadites from tormenting humanity.

Ash wasn’t the only one around when he once again recited lines from the Necronomicon; The girl he was with in his mobile home also had problems with evil of her own, launching a whole new story about a cop witnessing the grotesque horrors the Deadites can bring, making her question her mental stability. This side step away from Ash’s focus is a good way to introduce a showcase of what evil can do out of the woods and in society at large.

The reactions and expressions from all of the actors (especially characters new to this whole “Demons possessing everything in sight”, thing) throughout the show seemed very genuine according to the situation, considering how bizarre some of those situations are, it was impressive to see the characters question their own reality from a simple facial expression. The Deadite’s acted just as they did in the original films as well, which might have something to do with the same director and creators being involved in this show from the original films.

With a lot of the same people involved, the practical effects held strong, too. Extensive makeup, masks, outright good acting and only a minimal splash of CGI gives the show it’s own unique and cheesy tone that harks back to the original movies very well.

Overall, the show is extremely promising. Though the story, settings and premise itself is very simple so far, I am looking forward to crazy twists and turns down the line. For old fans it’s great to see Ash back in action, but even we need some new fire in a franchise we know and love.

Ray is the Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of Virtual Crunch. He started gaming on his mother's old NES and a Sega Genesis salvaged from a dumpster when he was five, which spawned his love of gaming. You can contact him at RayC@virtualcrunch.com